


We Burned the House Down

by AyokaiW



Series: Chronicles of a Human and her Demon [2]
Category: Steven Universe (Cartoon)
Genre: Alternate Universe, Demon!Lapis, F/F, Human!Peridot, Humor, I Wrote This Instead of Sleeping, Lapis is It, Lapis won't let her have any, Peridot just wanted breakfast, Sort Of, cursing, demon binding, house fire, shadow demon
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2019-02-15
Updated: 2019-02-15
Packaged: 2019-10-28 22:56:54
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 1
Words: 2,235
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/17796329
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/AyokaiW/pseuds/AyokaiW
Summary: Peridot had to move at one point in her life and that was because she burned her house down.It wasn't entirely her fault. Lapis could be such a baby sometimes.Day 2 since their binding





	We Burned the House Down

_Bebebebeep beep bebebeep_

Small hands reached out and grabbed for the alarm clock blaring on the nightstand to shut it off.

_7:30_ A.M. the bold, red numbers said. That was enough to get Peridot to crawl out of bed. She had two things on her mind. _Class in an hour. Breakfast._

The floor was freezing under her bare feet and the soft rattle of chains made her shiver. Peridot put on her glasses to find her room was still a gigantic mess from the night before. She frowned remembering how it got into its current state.

Lapis decided to introduce itself to its new owner by throwing the world's worst temper tantrum. Claw marks were all over the walls, papers and books strewn everywhere, Peridot's desktop tower was turned on its side with a massive bite mark on it. The fish tank she had, had a hole in it, but the fish were devoured so at least her room didn't smell like rotting  fish.

But seriously, who knew demons could have emotions so strong they acted like children. The only reason it calmed down was because Peridot threw the covers over her head and shouted “I'm ignoring you!” and then went to sleep.

And that wasn't even the worst fit, according to her mother. Her mother warned Peridot that Lapis was not a creature to take lightly and it had bouts of explosive rage. During those periods, it was a wild fury and nothing could calm it, unless it tried to kill Peridot. Then out of self preservation it would be subdued on its own.

That was the part that terrified Peridot down to her core.

It could do anything to her short of killing her outright.

What were the limits?

Had anyone in her family tested those waters?

Peridot sighed and began picking up her textbooks methodically, cursing Lapis for every rippled cover and scattered paper. Dumping the books into her backpack, Peridot then grabbed her clothes for the day and went to take a long, cold shower.

A shiver went down her spine.

Peridot turned her head slowly to stare the corner on the far side of her bedroom.

It was a terrifying thing to see her shadow staring back at her with cold, blue eyes.

That wasn't a sight anyone would be happy to see first thing in the morning.

Peridot's grandmother 5 generations back first established their little family of demon hunters, a fact Peridot was never aware of until yesterday (and really wished she remained ignorant of it). That grandmother encountered Lapis, a demon so strong other demons avoid it like it was the plague. Hell, Lapis Lazuli wasn't even its real name; it was the one given to it for the blue of its eyes. The were very pretty to look at, but Peridot was sure its eyes made up for the horrors it did. Apparently they were so horrific that her great (x5) grandmother bound it to herself to stop its reign of destruction.

According to her mother, only a will stronger than Lapis could keep it tamed, though Peridot wasn't sure how the will of an 18 year old would keep a few thousand year old demon complacent. Even now she could feel the chains around her wrists pulling against her as she stripped out of her nightwear to step in the shower.

Lapis was an ever constant presence thanks to it being her shadow. It made Peridot feel incredibly uncomfortable knowing the creature was always watching her. Even now as she was showering, she could feel cold, blue eyes staring at her backside. It was as if that gaze was trying to freeze her soul.

When she finished, she dried herself off and dressed as quickly as humanly possible. Peridot trudged down the stairs to head towards the kitchen. She heard Lapis’ claws scraping against the walls, as if it was trying to keep from going downstairs with her.

No wonder.

Her mom was burning a few dozen candles in the house again to “calm the evil presence” (as if that didn't mean Lapis). The air was fragrant with the smell of sage, cloves, and other spices. It reminded Peridot of pumpkin pie baking in winter, but for _it,_ the candles probably smelled like poison. For as long as Peridot could talk her mother burned those candles in the house, but Peridot never believed it was to keep the evil presence at bay. Then again, up until yesterday, Peridot didn't even believe demons existed and yet here she was with said “evil presence” chained to her.

Peridot entered the kitchen and began prepping breakfast. Her family was already long gone: her father to his job, her mother to hers and her sister…

She stared forlorn out the little kitchen to where the backyard was. Ever since Peridot's binding, Emerald had hardly spoke to her. It was if they were complete strangers living under the same roof. She was jealous, maybe. Peridot couldn't say, but, if that was the case, she didn't know what her sister could be jealous of exactly. Clearly it was enough to warrant the silent treatment.

“I never asked for this thing.” Peridot grumbled as she mixed together the ingredients for pancakes.

She was already going to be late for classes. After the long yesterday and even longer night, she deserved pancakes.

Peridot was just about to butter the pan to start making said pancakes, Lapis finally decided to show itself. It peeled off the wall, detaching itself to become a serpent of inky shadow with a two long arms and a canine's head. That was one of its forms. Her mother said it had three, but Peridot only ever saw the one, and hoped the other two forms weren't as unnerving. Its bright blue eyes shone with mischief as it slunk closer to the girl. Then, without warning, swept an arm across the kitchen counter.

“Lazuli, no!” Peridot shouted as the demon cleared the counter top of all its items. Bowls, plates, cutlery and a very expensive dish went crashing to the floor in a heap.

Of course now was the time for it to be throwing its famous temper tantrums. As is last night wasn't enough for it.

“I don't have time for this, Lazuli!” Peridot snapped, trying to collect the items off the floor.

She was already late for class and this twice damned demon was making it difficult to get breakfast going. Peridot grumbled under her breath as she began picking up the remains of shattered plates and bowls. Then Lapis twisted and caused the mixing bowl holding her pancake batter to smash against the floor. Batter splattered everywhere, splashing across Peridot's face and nice clothes.

“That is it!” Peridot shouted angrily.

Having enough, Peridot willed the chains binding herself and the demon together into existence and grasped them in her hands. She gave a hard yank, pulling the demon down close her face. It pushed its face against Peridot's own, bearing its fangs in a silent snarl as its blue eyes burned into Peridot's.

“You do not get to be the petulant child here.” Peridot said, “I don't remember agreeing to be saddled with the world's most powerful baby, so stop acting like one!”

At the insult Lapis snapped its teeth in front of her nearly taking her nose off. Luckily, Peridot had the forethought to pull back away from its jaws. While Peridot had a healthy caution about the demon, she wasn't frightened of it. So long as she was its lifeline it could do no lasting harm.

Peridot swatted its snout with an open palm, causing the shadowy figure to bristle and snarl, “Whatcha gonna do about it, you gaint baby?”

It surged forward.

Shadows coiled and curled around Peridot like a snake, trapping her arms to her side, and Peridot yelped in surprise. She stood and tried to force the shadow off of her while dodging the rows of sharpened teeth trying to bite her face off. She ran into the kitchen chairs and overturned the table, papers went scattering in the air as she stumbled and cursed as Lapis coiled tighter around her.

“Let go of me!” Peridot ordered. She wiggled an arm free and clamped her hand down on Lapis’ jaw to hold it closed, “Lapis-! Will you just-...fucking hell!”

Lapis shook its head, throwing Peridot off balance and sending her into the stove.

Peridot caught herself before her face was singed against the open flame. That was mostly due to Lapis giving her a sharp tug backwards, but that caused its claws to sink deep into the human's shoulders.

Peridot gave a screech of pain, “Lapis, let go!”

It just dug deeper and slammed Peridot down onto the tiled floor. Right into the pancake batter.

“Fuck!” Peridot felt as if her brain was rattling in her head. She reached out blindly and grabbed for the first thing she felt.

The skillet.

It must have fallen when Lapis pushed her into the stove.

Peridot grabbed hold of it and slammed it against Lapis’ head. The monster reared back with a pained howl.

“Take that!” Peridot shouted in triumph as she hit it again.

After the third hit, Lapis finally cowed and the shadows around Peridot receded back to where they came from.

It retreated to the far side of the kitchen, glaring daggers at Peridot.

Peridot caught her breath, heaving and wiping the sweat from her brow. As she did, she took the scene in around her, groaning in dismay at the mess they created.

Another thing to clean up.

_Fucking perfect._

“Is it always going to be like this?” Peridot asked to no one.

Lapis glared at her, as if it was trying to say “ _you're going to be my bitch for the rest of your lif_ e”.

“Shut up.” Peridot snapped. She wiped batter off her hands, “You're gonna need to fix your attitude or you're going back in the box.”

Lapis hissed, blue eyes narrowing at the threat. The box was a prison for it; a place where Peridot could lock it away for a day or two without reproach. However, keeping it in the box past that second day would cause the spells binding Lapis to her to break. The threat was just a threat. Peridot was far too paranoid to let Lapis out of her sight for a day, let alone two.

Peridot sniffed in disdain and, oddly enough, smelled smoke, “What in the-”

Then a half second later the fire alarms screamed to life all over the house.

She scrambled to her feet, sliding on the batter, and saw that half the living room was already engulfed in fire.

“HOW?!” Peridot exclaimed. She racked her brain trying to figure out how her house suddenly caught fire.

The only explanation was the candles. Dozens of them probably got overturned during their struggle and now her house was on fucking fire.

Lapis was rolling around as if it was laughing hysterically while Peridot began a frantic, fruitless search for the fire extinguisher.

It seemed like forever until Peridot's parents came rushing home...after the fire department put the fire out. Both were disappointed, but it took one scathing glare towards Lapis for them to understand what happened.

“We have that house in Beach City.” Her mother sighed, “It's been empty for years and most of my mother's things are still there. Even books I haven't read yet, spells that can make the house fire proof.”

“But it is in a bit...of a bad neighborhood.” Her father said, rubbing his face tiredly.

“What other choice do we have?”

Peridot continued to sit on the remains of her front porch while her parents talked amongst themselves. All the while glowering at the demon shadow. Of course her whole life was going to be uprooted thanks to this clod.

“Nice going, dumbass.” Emerald sneered as she thumped Peridot in the head with her foot, “You owe me for destroying my things.”

“Take it up with that one.” Peridot jabbed a thumb in Lapis’ direction.

Emerald eyed the demon warily and decided the fight wouldn't be worth it, “Whatever, I'm going to go see what wasn't burned up. Let me know when mom and dad are ready to leave.”

She entered the burnt shell of their home and disappeared around a wall, leaving Peridot to her thoughts.

Peridot felt Lapis’ presence behind her, “This is all your fault.”

The demon rested its head against Peridot's shoulder and nuzzled her cheek. Its serpent-like body circled around her neck, its head mere inches from her own. Lapis gave her a lick on the nose and Peridot scrunched up her face in disgust.

Was it trying to apologize?

No, Peridot doubted that. Demons had no empathy, no sense of right or wrong. They just did whatever they wanted. As far as Peridot was concerned, this monster was simply toying with her and she wouldn't stand for that. She would not pass this creature off to her daughter, not like how her grandmother did before her and her grandmother before her and so on and so forth.

“I swear,” Peridot said, in a voice filled with loathing, “I'm going to find some way to kill you.”

At that, Lapis seemed to smile and Peridot could almost hear it say, “ _Good luck with that.”_

**Author's Note:**

> I should be sleeping, but clearly I needed to write about houses burning down.


End file.
